My name is Rhonda, I am seventeen, and I attend Holland Christian High School. Shortly after I entered my first year in High School I played on the basketball team and was about to begin my training for soccer season, when I dislocated my kneecap. It was January 7, 2004 and the first game of my indoor soccer season. For the month following the injury I was in an immobilizer with an order for a month of therapy following. As a result, playing soccer for my high school, that year, was out of the picture. The following year of 2004-2005 I continued to play basketball and soccer. The summer of 2005 changed everything. In a scrimmage, I dislocated my kneecap again but not as bad as the first time. I was not placed in any kind of rehab, just told to “baby it” for a few days, icing and slowly getting back into everything. As the summer went on my knee kept getting worse, resulting in a choice to not play basketball. I went back to the doctor and he recommended a scope surgery of my knee. The surgery went very well, but they did not find anything to fix. They told me to go to a specialist to have them take a look at my knee, so I did. I had surgery with the specialist on May 18, 2006 and I was required to be in an immobilizer three weeks following with four months of therapy after that. The first month of therapy was through the doctors’ office, and after that I moved to Melissa at Nephew P.T. Before starting therapy with Melissa all I could do was walk, no sudden movements or even walking with somewhat of a pace. My knee hurt continually and it was not getting any better. The first time I walked in to have therapy with Melissa, things felt completely different. She not only wanted to make my knee better because it was her job but she wanted to make my knee better for me. Melissa was someone I could relate to. I could tell her not only my physical difficulties with my knee but my emotional difficulties as well. All my life all I knew was going 100% when I played sports, and here I was not even able to give 5%; the best I could do was sit on the side lines and that wasn’t good enough. I wanted to be in the game, giving my all and not being held back because of my injury. I snowboard and I wanted to get to a point in which I could snowboard. Melissa realized that and she gave me therapy that would not only help my knee but would also help me when I’m snowboarding. She also took my love for soccer and applied that to my therapy as well with dribbling, passing and balancing. Now it is 5 months after surgery and I would not hesitate one bit to go out and snowboard or play a pick up game of soccer. I can climb a set of stairs and my knee does not feel weak. It is because of Melissa’s caring spirit and encouraging attitude that I ran two miles three weeks ago. I have not felt that confident in my knee since before my initial injury. They always say that the patient is the one who does the work, but it is the therapist who shows you the goals, encourages you, and does everything in their power to get you to your goals; this is exactly what Melissa did for me. Rhonda V.

Rhonda V.

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